Editorial: Iberia sheriff responded appropriately

Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal was right to terminate a deputy who allegedly clubbed a handcuffed suspect during a Hopkins Street block party that got out of hand. The firing took place Oct. 9 at the conclusion of an internal affairs investigation into allegations of excessive force.

It was undoubtedly a difficult decision on Ackal's part, but in making it, Ackal showed leadership by taking prompt action in the face of a controversial and potentially acrimonious situation.

The drama began to unfold during the early morning hours, the last weekend of September, when the Iberia Parish Sheriff's arrived at the impromptu block party after the conclusion of the Sugar Cane Festival.

The deputy, whose identity has not been revealed, allegedly clubbed Christopher Butler, 32, while he was handcuffed, according to a report in The Daily Advertiser. The incident was captured in a video that was subsequently posted on YouTube and went viral.

Butler's niece, Ladaedrea Moore, 17, said she was knocked out when a deputy allegedly slammed her head onto a car.

The controversy surrounding the case mounted when the Rev. Raymond Brown of National Action Now, a New Orleans civil rights organization, sent the video to the U.S. Department of Justice, requesting a federal investigation into the matter.

A sense of outrage swept over the neighborhood and family and friends of those allegedly abused in the incident. Some have called for a federal investigation and Ackal's resignation.

But to all appearances, Ackal has acted properly.

He placed the deputy on administrative leave while the internal affairs investigation was being conducted. It would have been premature to terminate the deputy's employment before the investigation was completed.

The next step was to hand the investigation over to an undisclosed outside agency to determine whether criminal charges should be filed against the deputy. It's standard procedure for law enforcement agencies to ask an outside agency, most often the Louisiana State Police, to handle investigations of one of their own, to avoid the perception of bias.

Again, Ackal acted properly.

Ackal and other department officials have been tight-lipped about the progress of the investigation.

It's hard to say what the eventual outcome of this incident will be. We hope that in the end, justice will be served.

But in the meantime, one law enforcement official stepped up and took decisive action where others in his position may have hesitated.

For this, he should be commended.

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Editorial: Iberia sheriff responded appropriately

Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal was right to terminate a deputy who allegedly clubbed a handcuffed suspect during a Hopkins Street block party that got out of hand. The firing took place Oct.